Page 27 of Spotted at Lighthouse Bay
She scoffed. “Some reporter. I looked it up while we were on the plane. There is no Bellingham Star.”
“Huh. How about that.” He narrowed his eyes. “You’re very impressive, too. An investigative reporter yourself.”
She let out a laugh. “Yeah, yeah.”
Addy kept walking. The door to Patty’s cottage was unlocked, as usual. She pushed it open and walked into the cinnamon-filled air.
Eliza must be perfecting a recipe.
She followed the scent to the kitchen. There was no cake. Only Sheila.
“How’d it go?” Sheila asked, setting down the water kettle.
“It was okay. Confusing.” Addy took a seat and watched Rick cross through the kitchen and stand by the back door.
He was always on alert. It must be exhausting. Bad for the nerves.
“Actually, wait,” Addy said. “What do you know about Mia and this movie she did?”
Sheila shrugged. “Not much. She won’t talk to Russell about it, and he wants to let her do her own thing.”
“Is it her thing?” Addy asked. “Or her mom’s thing?”
Sheila puffed out her lips. “Hard to say.” She looked at Rick. “Can I get you something to drink?”
He shook his head and held up the cardboard coffee cup from Bellingham. He’d opted for the so-called oat milk latte. “I’m all set.”
“Let me give you some money for the drinks,” Addy said, reaching for her purse.
He put up a hand. “It all goes on the company card. Don’t worry about it. I’m happy when I get to buy something on their dime.”
She studied his face, trying to figure out if that was the truth or if he was trying to be gracious. He had no tells.
Sheila plopped down next to her. “What’s Lawrence like? Is he awful?”
Addy shut her eyes. “No. That’s the worst part. He’s the most lovely man. He says he misses Mom and wants to win her back.”
Sheila groaned. “She got another one, eh?”
“I looked through all the paperwork. It was a sale-leaseback like you suspected. They gave him a bit of money and within months, they’d tripled his rent.”
“Typical.” Sheila shook her head. “I can’t believe these companies get away with this stuff.”
“We didn’t have time to go to the company headquarters,” Addy said. “I wish Mom knew what she’d signed.”
“If she did business with the actual company, we might have a chance of getting the money back,” Sheila said. “But if she didn’t…”
“I know.” Total disaster. Addy, the spinster sister, would live out the rest of her days catering to her mother’s whims. “I’m not going to think about that yet.”
Patty breezed into the kitchen and grabbed an apron. “Oh good! You’re back!”
“Missed me?” Addy said with a smile.
Maybe if she was good, Patty would adopt her, too. She could be a stepdaughter-in-law or something.
“I was just at the tea shop,” Patty said, pulling the apron over her head, “and I ran into your date.”
“My date?” Addy glanced at Sheila. “What date?”
